Trauma is an increasingly significant cause of death and disability throughout the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that around 5 million people die each year from serious injury, the vast majority in the developing world. The Primary Trauma Care Foundation (PTC) is a small UK charity formed in 1996 which aims to reduce the number of deaths from trauma or serious injury by providing training for front-line staff.

Primary Trauma Care takes volunteer doctors to run trauma courses in developing countries. In doing so, not only are local doctors given vital knowledge of how to cope with trauma cases with only basic equipment, but some of them can go on to train other health professionals in the area. All PTC courses are provided free to trainees in the developing world. The costs of coordinating these courses is met by generous donations.